But the Maple Leafs defenceman won't mind one bit if he shows up the Florida Panthers when the two Eastern Conference rivals clash Monday night.

A seeming minor-league lifer, Kostka famously got into his first game with the NHL just this year with the Maple Leafs.

He thought he was going to do it last year, when he tried out for the Panthers. They even gave him Panther equipment at the end of training camp. But he was cut before the first game.

“It's not one of those when you come back and you're really trying to hand it to them or anything,” said Kostka. “I have a lot of friends and (Panthers coach) Kevin Dineen was a big mentor for me my first two years in (AHL) Portland.

“Then he gave me some good opportunities in exhibition games last year. It's not like I'm coming back here for revenge. But when you come back and know a lot of guys, I'm excited to come back and try to get the victory.”

It will be Ben Scrivens in net again for the Leafs, facing Jose Theodore for the Panthers. The Leafs are not expected to make any lineup changes, however defenceman Carl Gunnarsson has made the trip – it continues in Tampa on Tuesday and appears to be over his hip injury.

Dineen said he was happy to see Kostka have success with the Maple Leafs.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mike Kostka,” said Dineen. “I think very highly of him as a player and as an individual.

“He was a very solid American league player for a lot of years and one of those guys you're really excited to see take advantage of an opportunity that presented itself.”

The Panthers won all four games against Toronto last year, but are on a 0-3-1 skid right now.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.